Oh Flower of Scotland… Happy Saint Andrews Day 2018

November 30th is Saint Andrews day in Scotland. It has been over 27 years since we left Scotland to return to America but in so many ways it seems like yesterday. Our trip was cut way too short with the imminent closing of the American base at Holy Loch and so many things have filled […]

Floating Drydocks: A Noteworthy Innovation That Changed the Course of Two Wars

Floating Drydocks had been around for a long time before World War 2. But the scope of naval warfare during World War 2 and the Cold War that would follow would test the Navy’s ability to maintain vessels in faraway locations. This is part on of the story of docks like USS Los Alamos (AFDB […]

The Build – Reflections from an Old Docking Officer

The Build When you have sailed on submarines for most of your career, stepping outside of your comfort zone reveals many things about who you are. Most submariners have achieved a level of excellence that is demanded by the profession. You are operating a large ship that is designed to sink and do most of […]

AFDB-7 Los Alamos Holy Loch Scotland “IN THE BEGINNING…”

For the second time in the history of theleansubmariner, I am posting an article from a Shipmate that I have come to know via our common interests in history and events that shaped it. This article comes from Norman Rachels SWE4 (formerly of the United States Navy). Norm was one of the guys who arrived early […]

Happy Hogmanay 2020

Its so hard to believe that nearly thirty years have passed since we lived in Scotland. While we were there, we immersed ourselves in the local culture as much as we could given a very hectic work schedule at Holy Loch. But Debbie and I spent as much time as we could traveling around […]